


Persona 5: I, AM

by OneAgainstNature



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Metaverse (Persona 5), Mystery, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28893804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneAgainstNature/pseuds/OneAgainstNature
Summary: Set after Madarame's defeat, the Phantom Thieves (Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, and Yusuke) find themselves trapped in a new situation. An anonymous Phan-Site user challenges the Phantom Thieves, promising them that he will unleash a catalismic computer virus to the interconnected web of Japan unless he is given a 500 million yen ransom. The user gives them 7 days to cooperate, but they're going to have trouble. Along with the virus, something else seems to be seeking the Phantom Thieves. Something sinister...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Calm Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although all is quiet, something is brewing...

Homo-sapiens: The most dominating lifeform on Earth. Years and years of **evolution** had brought them this gift of superiority. They grew smarter, stronger, and had more influence on the land than perhaps the Earth itself. However, along with these great fortunes, they also grew selfish, cruel, and egocentric. No disease nor natural disaster could end their existence, for only they themselves could be responsible for their extinction. How long will they continue to spit upon the very planet that nutured them? How long will they continue to manufacture weapons of **mass destruction** before obliterating themselves of the face of the planet? However, their eventually end does not concern me. For I am not human myself.

* * *

"Roll a two, roll a two, roll a tw-" Ryuji whispered almost begginly.

"Ah! I rolled a three," said Yusuke.

"WHAT?! The hell man! What's your damage, dude?"

"Damage? Am I hurting you?"

"Huh? N-no, that's not what I'm trying to- ahh! That's not what I'm saying! I'm talking about your luck. How are you so damn lucky? You haven't even been trying at all!"

"I don't understand. I'm playing the game as the rules follow. Is my success not natural?"

"I... Ugh." Ryuji looked like he was about to collapse from his own mental breakdown.

"The only reason Yusuke is winning is because he's only buying the properties that look the most glamorous," Ann broke in between Ryuji and Yusuke's clash, "that being said, I'm amazed at how much he has made so far."

"Oh yeah, another thing! How is it you're so rich in this game, but shit broke in reality?!"

"Well, I can buy nothing more than property so my options are limited." Ryuji raised his flag and collapsed back into the cushions of his booth. He rested his arm over his face and gave a long sigh. Without looking at Yusuke or Ann, he asked a good question.

"Man, what's taking those two so long?"

"Well ,the place we wanted was pretty far, but he didn't seem to mind going the distance," said Ann, "Now I kinda wish we went with him. Also, no complaining! He is paying after all."

"Yes ma'am..."

* * *

Ren thanked the cook at the ramen shop and took the food to go. If he felt like it, Ren could have gone to find some cheaper ramen, but he wanted the best for he and his friends. So he traveled to Ogikubo to the best most trusted ramen shop he knew. 

Morgana poked his head out of Ren's bag, hypnotized by the smell of ramen.

"Wow, that ramen smells amazing! I've been missing out."

"No better place to get ramen than Ogikubo, but to be honest..."

"Hmm... what's wrong Ren?"

"I didn't know if they did take out for not, so I kinda just took a shot in the dark, haha..."

"What?! So you could have come all the way only to not bring anything back?" Ren felt exposed. He felt like he needed to increase his knowledge. Thankfully he had his charm to fall back to.

"Hm? Are you not confident in your phantom leader? Don't you know? A thief always has a backup plan behind a backup plan."

"Ren, I can right through you. Stop lying."

"Huh?!" Ran felt his charm drop a level

Ren continued towards the train platform and quietly waited to get on. He stepped into the train, squished by Japanese dressed in black and white. But really it was no different than going to school. After a while, the train arrived at Shibuya and Ren ran into a familiar face.

"Wait isn't that...?" Morgana asked.

"Senpai!" The bright red headed girl exclaimed. 

"Kasumi," Ren countered with a calm aura, "how are you doing?"

"I'm great! Say, whatcha got there?"

"Oh this?" Ren says lifting the bag, "just some ramen I picked up for some friends."

"Ooo ramen! I was actually about to pick some up."

"If you want, you can join us."

"Oh, that sounds nice, but I'm going to be too busy. Actually, I don't know if I even have time to get food." Ren saw a pinch of sadness seep through Kasumi's sad demeanor. He reached into the bag and brought out one of the ramen bowls, delicately contained to keep it from spilling.

"Here," Ren says motioning her to take the bowl, "I eat there all the time."

"No... I shouldn't"

"Kasumi... It's okay." She hesitated a bit, but gave a nod and smile and took the bowl.

"Thank you, Senpai."

"Anytime, see you around." They both departed, leaving in opposite directions. Ren felt both his charm and kindness level a bit.

* * *

"That's it, you're cheating!" says Ryuji.

"This is preposterous. To cheat a game is to cheat yourself. I would never do such a-"

"What, you got extra money hidden in your pockets? How are you doing it?"

"Ryuji, it's just a game!" exclaims Ann, "why are you so angry over what is just blind luck?"

"You don't just roll 5 sixes in a row. What is it, magnectic dice?" The sound a bell chimed through the store, turning the three's heads towards the front door. A familiar young man walked in, black wavy unkempt hair, wearing hip glasses and a black sports jacket.

"I'm back." says Ren.

"Dude your back!" says Ryuji, "Man, what took ya so long?"

"Just bumped into someone familiar was all."

"Well let's eat then! Nothing like good old fashioned ramen." Ann says. As Ren sets the bowls to everyone, they begin noticing that they're one short of a bowl.

"Ren," Yusuke asks, "did you hesitate to get one for yourself?"

"Hm? Oh, a bowl of ramen? Well, that person that I ran into was hungry and didn't have the time to get a bite to eat. So I gave them my bowl." There was a silence in the room. Ryuji looks down at his bowl, having yet touched it.

"Here, man," Ryuji says, "You can have mine."

"No, it's okay Ryuji. I'm just fine eating leftovers from the fridge."

"Dude, you went through all that trouble and even spent your own money. You deserve way more than I do."

"No, wait!" Says Ann, "You can have mine. Ramen isn't that good for looks so I'll pass."

"I refuse," Yusuke retaliates, "I refuse you two to give yours away. For I am Ren's most trusted confidant, I'll happily give mine to show how stronger our friendship is!"

"WHAAAT?!" Ryuji screams. "How are you his 'most trusted confidant'?"

"Yeah," Ann slides in, "We've known him longer than you have!"

"Well actually, I've known him more than you."

"Nu-uh! I met him first."

"But I befriended him and talked to him first! You just starred at him!"

"No, _he_ was starring at me!"

"What difference does it make?"

 _I should play the silent game more..._ Ren thought in his head. While Ryuji and Ann were arguing, Morgana enjoyed his share of ramen.

* * *

Mishima stayed up late once more, monitoring over the Phan-site. It was 11:24. _I need to go sleep_ he says to himself. But before his arms could leave the armrests, a new message appeared on the computer monitor. Mishima looked at it with fear and confusion.

_Phantom Thieves_

_Virus_

_¥500,000,000_

_No goverment interference_

_7 Days_

"What... What the?"

_Dear Phantom Thieves,_

_I have myself a deadly computer virus, N0M0R3H3R035. If once installed into a phone, it will begin a viral mass infection, infecting multiple contacts and links that has the potential to take down Japan's entire interconnected web structure. If you wish to stop me, I desire a ¥500,000,000 ransom. There shall be no government interference. You have 7 days before my decision is final. Get the show on the road._

"This can't be real..."

<\-----To-Be-Continued-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A viral outbreak to occur in 7 days? What can stop it...?


	2. N0M0R3H3R035 Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A job only the Phantom Thieves could solve!

Day 1

6 Days Till Outbreak

"Ren...," A small but far away voiced called. It ecohed in my mind, but I remained still. "Ren," the voiced called again. It was closer, but still faint. It sounded familiar, however, it almost reminded me of Mo-

"REN, WAKE UP!" My body jolted, brought back to life by the cries of Morgana who was sitting on my chest. I felt stiff, my back that is. My neck was in need of an intense chiropractic massages. Maybe I should inquire Kawakami's services. "About time you woke up. Hurry, you got to get to school." Morgana jumped off my chest leaving me a bit winded.

"Ugggh...," my mouth spoke for my body. I inspired myself to get up and get dressed; plaid pants, white turtle neck, black suit jacket and my glasses (which I didn't even need to use to see). I walk downstairs to be greeted by Sojiro who has already crafted me a plate of curry.

"You better hurry, you're gonna be late," He tells me. 

"Thank you." I sit down and practically scarf down the food. The morning customer sitting in the corner looked at me with a mix of shock and curiosity. I push the plate forward and grab my bag. "Thanks again."

"Yeah, just next time, take your time won't you? You're scaring my customer."

"Oh, right. Sorry about." I leave and head off to school. As I walk towards the station, I begin to notice that the crowds are more talkative than usual. Most of the time, people are busy on their phones or are desd silent, but now I'm seeing people talking to each other, though it's too loud to pick up everything they're saying. I can only recognize a single keyword: "Phantom Thieves". We had just recently taken down renound "artist", Ichiryusai Maderame, but that was a while ago. Are people really still talking about it? It seemed like everyone in Japan had their thoughts to say about it. I guess it just feels a little overwhelming.

I approach Shujin Academia and, just like the station, everyone is talking about something relating to the Phantom Thieves. Walking in the halls, their talk rebounds off the wall and I begin to hear things that worry me. "Virus", "¥500,000,000", "One week". 

_What the hell are they talking ab-_ I didn't get to finish my thought when a student grabbed me and threw me into a nearby storage closest. I got scarred. Am I going to be beaten and kicked? Why am I being targeted? The closest was dark with the only light seeping under the door from outside. A light flickered on and I found out who our mystery student was. 

"Dude, you're in serious trouble," Mishima spoke in a scared voice.

"Mishima? Damn, you got a good grapple."

"Huh? O-Oh... thanks. I don't remember the last time I put some good effort into exercising... Wait, no that's not important! Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"This!" Mishima digs his phone out and shows it to my face. When I finished reading it, I reread it again just to be sure that what I was reading was real.

"They want ¥500,000,000...? What?!"

"I've spent all night trying to get in contact with the guy who made the message. They didn't even put the message in the normal message board. They hacked the site and put it front and center on the main page. He's even somehow put a creator's lock on it. I can't remove it from the Phan-site! This guy has to be serious."

"Did he leave a name?"

"No, he remained himself anonymous." Shit, that's what we needed. If we just had a name, we could put an end to this immediately. "What are you going to do? The Phantom Thieves don't have that kind of money do they?" I didn't answer him. I needed to think a bit about how to handle the situation.

"Mishima, you said that the hacker had an 'creator's lock' on it, but you should still be able to manage the site correct?

"Yes, of course. I can update it with new messages or features, but I can't take down that message at all."

"Then do this for me. Make a countdown."

"What?"

"Make a countdown for when this virus initiates its attack. I'm gonna need to keep track of how much time I have, so it's important that you impliment this feature for me."

"That I can do! Don't worry I'll get right on it!"

"Good, I'm counting on you." Mishima left me in the storage closet alone. Morgan's poked his out of my bag.

"This doesn't sound good. Once we get out of school, we need to start an immediate Phantom Thief Meeting."

"Right, but the question remains... How are we going to find our mystery hacker?"

* * *

"This is bullshit!" Ryuji rages, "how do they expect us to get 500 million yen? Even if we grinded our asses off in Mementos, we still couldn't make enough money."

"How do we know this isn't a trick of sorts?" Yusuke asks, "it's very possible that they're attempting to manipulate our status."

"Well I did some research..." says Ren.

"In 2004," Morgana speaks up, "there was a worldwide viral threat to the internet call 'MyDoom'. It was a virus that disquised itself as an email and could cause major damages to those computers at the time. We can't take this as a joke. Besides, the guy is obviously someone familiar with computers."

"Speaking of which," says Ryuji, "do we have any leads yet? Like, who the guy is?"

"Unfortunately, no. Right now, as it stands, we're at a dead end. At best, we can roam Mementos aimlessly and look for anyone suspicious."

"Wait, don't we already have some targets in Mementos to take down? Why not interrogate those guys before we finish them off?"

"Not a bad idea," says Yusuke, "perhaps, I can put my artskills to work and get ourselves a portrait of the hacker."

"It's worth a shot," says Ren.

"Geez... What's taking Ann so long?" Says Ryuji.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" A muffled voice closes in on the group. Everyone turns their heads and sees Ann wearing a bright red face mask, but they could tell she was smiling brightly. "The trains kept me late, but I'm here!"

"Uhh... Ann? What's up with the mask?"

"W-what? Haven't you heard? Masks are really popular now. It's the new fashion trend." Ann's acting was obvious and poor. Even a deaf man could tell it was fake.

"Lady Ann, I may not wear clothes, but even I can tell that no one wears those masks purely for fashion."

"Hmm...," Yusuke ponders, "it's still pollen season. You don't have allergies do you?"

"Whaaat? Of course not! Why, I'm as pollen free as a... ah... a-ACHOO!"

"As pollen free as a sunflower?"

"Sniff... fine. My allergies have been acting up lately. They're usually not this bad."

"Maybe you should go home and just chill for the day," says Ryuji, "we can handle the Phantom Thief business missing one member."

"But I need to help! Everyone is counting us!" Ren stares at Ann with conviction and awe.

"Go home," says Ren, "I admire your willingness to fight, despite your ailment. However, I'd rather work alone than risk the lives of my friends. Ann, you mean a lot to us. Please, take the day off and get some rest." Ann looks down with sad mood hidden behind her mask.

"Fine... I'll go then. But call me when you guys get back." Ann walks slowly away. We don't continue our conversation till we see her leave completely out of our sight.

"Well then," Yusuke says, "shall we get going?"

"We shall," says Ren.

* * *

Entering Mementos, the four agreed to take care of the two targets within and interrogate them for information reguarding the hacker. Though, despite their effort, no information could be concocted. Neither of the shadows knew who the hacker was. Without much of a lead, the four rebels decended further into Mementos practically blind folded. No direction, no chance of a single clue. Eventually, they dugged themselves so far into Mementos they eventually hit the limit. A grand pulsating wall, without much of a will to move for the thieves, stopped their decentment. They stopped and rested, for hours of their time had been wasted.

"Dammit," Ryuji cursed as he kicked the ground, "what if he's right behind that door? What if we need to go even lower to reach him?"

"If that's the case," Morgana replies, "then we need to find our next target fast. The only way that door is opening is if we take down someone with the same impact like Kamoshida or Maderame."

"Can't we physically open it? Maybe if we all used our personas at once, we could blow it up!"

"Mementos isn't just a subway Skull. It's pratically a living being. Right now, we've welcomed ourselves into it's mouth. To provoke it, we would just end being eaten alive."

"For real?"

"That was quite poetic Mona," says Yusuke.

"Thanks, I always plan to have good back up speech." Ryuji looks over to their leader. Joker seperated himself from the rest of the group. He stood staring at the wall, not saying a word, but it was obvious that he was thinking heavily about it all.

"Hey, Joker," Ryuji says as he walks over and puts his hand on his shoulder, "You okay man?" Joker glanced back, his eyes filled with somewhat of a cold quiet concernment. He spoke to break the tension.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's call it a day. We have five more days left anyway. Something should appear by then." Joker was the first to depart before the group. Everyone could see that Joker was worried. The Phantom Thieves had already gone through their first true mission and now they're being blackmailed. 

* * *

As they returned to the real world and made their goodbyes, Ren had realized walking home that he needed to call Ann on their status. He oped his phone and pressed on Ann's contact. The phone rang a bit, then a voice picked up from the other side.

"Ren? You guys make it safely? Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, we made it just fine. Unfortunately, we have nothing new in terms of our investigation. We're at a dead end."

"That's not good..."

"I know." A silence hazed for a second between the two. Ren realized he unintentionally made it awkward and attempted to rejuvinate the conversation. "Ahem, umm... So how's your modeling job? Have you been keeping up with Mika?"

"Oh, she's been a butt! I trying my best to get to her league, but it seems like every time _I get even close, she somehow gets a head of me and-"_ Ann's voice became more and more hollow to Ren as his mind began focusing on something else. He felt a presence. Something standing right behind him. He could feel the hairs on his neck perk up after hearing the low static growl of whatever was there. He reeled his body around to see what was behind, but... there was nothing. Ren could have sworn he felt something, he even used his third eye ability, but nothing came from it. Ann continued to talk on the phone, unaware that Ren wasn't paying attention. Something was following, but it disappeared. What was that feeling that Ren felt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A stalker approaches leaving no trace


	3. N0M0R3H3R035 Part 2

Day 2

5 Days Till Outbreak

Ren waited in the station for the train to arrive. Another day of school, but filled dread. What if they couldn't stop the virus? How could they? Those thoughts lingered in his mind relentlessly.

"Morning!" Ryuji spoke to Ren, waking him from his train of thought, "You get any sleep?"

"Yeah."

"I stayed up all night playing video games. Just my way of relieving my stress."

"Ha, I'm usually on my phone."

"Man, I forget how much stuff I have to watch or play. I still haven't played those two video games I got three months ago. Oh yeah! By the way, Ann's sick. Apparently the makeup she was wearing worsened her allergies. She's going to be home for awhile."

"Hopefully she'll come out ok." The train arrived and as the two stepped on, Ren felt it again. That feeling of something stalking. He looked behind him, it was nothing but a crowd of people. A look of uncertainty masked his face as he sat down with Ryuji. Sensing his discomfort, Ryuji probes him.

"You okay man? You look a bit stunned."

"Have you... been feeling stalked recently?"

Stalked? Like some creepy old guy staring at you or a tsundere?"

"Something like that I suppose. Last night, I felt like something was behind... but there wasn't anything at all. I could hear it too. It was like this fultered growl, like I was hearing it through a old stereo."

"For real? Dude, this isn't just some horror story you're telling me is it?"

"No, of course not, but maybe I was imagining it. It was a stressful night."

"Now that you mention it... I did feel uneasy last night. I'm not sure if I felt like I was being stalked, but I was feeling a bit light headed."

"Huh..." Ren looks down at his phone and looks at the Phan-Site. It's the same as before. The doomsday clock ticks down. It's slow, but it feels fast.

The train stops. Ren and Ryuji grab their bags and step off the train. Their talk remains silent and static, nothing else felt like it needed to be explained or explored. While walking, Ren found himself looking at the people out of sudden anxiety. He was looking for the culprit. Back at the station he felt it, just like last night. It couldn't just be nothing. Ren, without paying attention, accidently ran into a citizen, resulting in them dropping their phone.

"Hey, watch where you're going brat!"

"How about you watch out for yourself, asshole!" Ryuji defended. 

"Sorry," Ren apologized, "I wasn't paying attention." As a gesture of forgiveness, Ren reached down to pick up the phone for the stranger. As he bent his knees, he saw a pair of blue feet walk behind Ryuji and the business man. His eyes flared from fear and looked towards the figure to get a look at it. Even Ryuji reacted to it. At that moment, he too felt it's presence, but neither of them got a good look at it.

"Ryuji! You felt it too right?"

"Yeah, it was behind me, but now it's gone?"

"Hey, aren't you going to pick up my phone?" Ren ignored the man and spun his head around.

"Damn it," said Ren, "it was here! I almost saw it!" Ren aggressively grabbed the man's phone and shoved it into his chest. "Ryuji, did you get a look at it?"

"It was blue right? It disappeared before I could the whole thing. Where the hell did it go?"

"I... I don't know. It just disappeared."

Ren and Ryuji returned to walking back to school, but they were more paranoid than ever.

* * *

It was lunch hour. Ren told Morgana the event with the mysterious entity that's been stalking them.

"So that was what you guys were freaking out over before?"

"Yeah, it just appeared and disappeared out of thin air. How come no one else reacted to it?"

"Perhaps they didn't see it. I don't know."

"You think it's a Persona?"

"I doubt it. Personas can only be activated within the Metaverse. It be impossible for it to cross over into reality." The bell rings, meaning lunch break's over. "We'll discuss this more later okay?

* * *

The final school bell rang. Ren stuffed Morgana into his bag and met up with Ryuji within the school's hallway.

"Have you seen it?" Says Ryuji.

"The stalker?" Replies Ren

"Yeah. I haven't seen it."

"Neither have I."

"Dude, what was that thing? It didn't even look human. You don't think it's a-"

"We've already ruled that out," Morgana says poking his head out of Ren's bag, "there's no way a Persona can enter the real world."

"Well how do you know? I get that we can only use our Personas in Mementos, but who's to say that there aren't others who can just summon one within our world?"

"W-well," Morgana stuttered, "that's actually a fair point..."

"Hey, let's do a Phantom Thieves meeting," Ryuji says to Ren, "You call over Yusuke okay? Tell him we need to know if he's been feeling stalked lately." Ren texted Yusuke, telling him to come over for a "PTM (Phantom Thieves Meeting)". He was going send a another text, but he was interupted by the static cry of something behind him. Ren and Ryuji turn their bodies towards the noise. The stalker, clear as day. It was right there. 

"That's...!" Ren said with fear.

"For real? This is a joke right?" Ryuji spoke taking a step back.

"What is it," asked Morgana, "I don't see it. Where's the stalker?"

<\------To--Be--Continued------


	4. N0M0R3H3R035 Part 3

Yusuke eyes wandered upon the white canvas. He detailed it's blank, but never ending expression. Like the American Dream, it was prosperous. It brought new found curiosity and freedom to it's painter. A blank canvas, in of itself, was a piece art, ready to take new form... **evolve.** Yusuke stylishly swung out his brush and steadied it like a gun.

"This is it," He told himself, "the time is now... TO MANIFEST DESTINY!" With confidence and grace like that of a god of art, he prepared an all out attack upon the white lands that stood before him! The sound of low rumble put Yusuke in a paused motion, his brush just barely touching the canvas. It was his phone. He'd left it on vibration. His face was cast in a shadow of annoyance. He sighed, put the brush down, and looked at his phone. It was a text from Ren.

 _Ren, from_ _3:32_

_\- Hey I need you to meet up for a PTM. If you can't, just call us when you can. Thanks._

Yusuke looks back at his painting and to his phone.

"Perhaps another day," he says putting his canvas in a safe spot.

* * *

Ren and Ryuji stood in fear as their stalker finally stood face to face with them. Morgana, however, only stared in confusion. He could not see what they could. The being was far from human. It's entire body was a radiating navy blue with it's back hunched forward a bit. It looked to be 5'7 with skinny legs and a stocky upper body. However, it did not have arms, but it did have hands. A pair, attached to it's head, covered its face, with one eye peeking from it's long and slender fingers. The being generated an odd static sound that sounded like a metallic roar.

"The hell is that thing?!" Said Ryuji

"What are you two talking about," said Morgana, "I'm not seeing what you guys are."

"It's right there! How can you not see th-" Ryuji cut himself midsentence after witnessing a Shujin student casually walk through the being without effect. "Wha- What the...?" Without warning, the beast slowly walked forward, drawing closer to the two. "Aw shit! It's coming for us!"

"We need to get the fuck out of here!" Ren warned leading Ryuji down the stairs.

"Yeah, no shit!" Ryuji screamed. The two were pratically leaping down the stairs just to get away. Ren, taking the last step on the stairs, tripped and fell to the ground. Though, he didn't trip to friction or body malfunction. Ryuji swung his body around when he heard Ren smack into the floor. "Dude, are yo-"

Ren lifted his chest from the floor and turned his head. Somehow and someway, the stalker had beaten them to the first floor and tripped Ren. It leaned it's head towards Ren with one of it's fingers pushing outwards attempting to touch him. Ryuji, quick to react, grabbed Ren's arms and dragged him across the floor, keeping their distance from the stalker.

"C'mon man, get up!" Ryuji helped pull Ren from the ground and the two of them existed the school running as far of a distance as they could. The students and teachers just stood and watched as the whole ordeal went down. In the end, they all went back to their lives, unknowing of what Ren and Ryuji were going through.

* * *

Yuskue stood waiting at the Phantom Thieves hideout, the Teikyu Building Accessway. It was unusual that Yusuke woukd be the first to arrive. Everyone else would usually be here. Yusuke texted Ren and Ryuji earlier, wondering if they were having trouble, but there was no answer. They hadn't even checked his message yet. Yusuke started to hum a song to himself, occasionally lightly bopping is head to the beat that made into his head. He was genuinely enjoying it, until Ren and Ryuji had came crashing in the hideout inhaling and exhaling like dogs, especially Ryuji. 

"What happen to you two?" Yusuke asked spooked by their abrupt entrance. Ryuji attempted to speak, but fell on his butt to catch a breather. Ren covered for him.

"Yusuke, have you been feeling stalked recently?"

"Stalked? I don't believe so. But that doesn't necessarily answer my question."

"Something's trying to attack and it's been stalking us. We called the meeting to ask you, but that's when it was trying to pursue us." 

"Are you two high?!" Morgana butted in. "I didn't see anything there. This stalker is nothing, but stress from the whole virus debocle."

"Dude...," Ryuji faintly spoke, "can you just shut up? He was there. I think we lost him. Can we please get something to drink? I'm like goddamn Egypt over here." Ren nodded, still taking breathers.

"You'll have to tell me more about this stalker," said Yusuke, "There's a cafe around here. We can get something there."

"Man, I don't wan't no damn coffee! That's what this guy's for. Let's just go to a nearby vending machine." Ryuji got up and lead the group, Ren and Yusuke following behind. Yusuke was behind the rest of everyone else. As he walked forward, he felt a static presence appear behind him. A surge flowed through Yusuke's head, like a chemical flowing through a test tube, causing him to foam at the mouth. He stood grabbing his forhead, his eyes a mixture of fear and confusion. He forced his head to turn despite his body locking up. There he took witness to it. The stalker stood behind him, almost translucent like it was losing its physical grip on reality.

Yusuke, with all the remainging energy in his body, could only mutter one last word.

"...What?"

He fell to the floor stiff as wood. Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana screamed his name and rushed towards him despite their condition. The stalker disappeared, only last seen by Yusuke who's now lying on the floor suffering a seizure.


	5. Invitation to Freedom and Nice Food

Day 3

4 Days Till Outbreak

I was too young to remember much of my mom, but I always felt she was watching me. Like an angel, she would protect me in my weakest of times. If only I could see her again... just once. I would want to thank her for giving me the joy to live. Even though this world is cold and unforgiving, I still wish to see the dawn break, the clouds drift, and the sea shimmering in the sunlight. I'm able to see all of those thanks to her.

* * *

Yusuke opened his eyes. He was in a small white room in a bed. The floor sliced into a pattern of squares. He turned his over to see a woman sitting at her desk facing away from him. His vision was blurring, but the more he looked at the woman, he began to mistake her for someone else.

"Mom...?" He said softly. The woman turned around and got up to inspect Yusuke.

"You're awake? That's good," the woman said. Yusuke's eyes corrected themselves and unblurred. The woman wore a white coat with a short dress underneath it. Her hair was short and a dark blue. As she got closer to inspect him, Yusuke could smell a faint fragrance of perfume on her. The type that didn't destroy your nosehairs with the aroma they produced. It was more fair to say she smelt like a scented candle.

"How's your vision? Can you read that sign on the wall over there?" She pointed to a poster that had several different letters in several different sizes. He read all the letters he could until he couldn't distinguish any from the bottom. "Alright, seems your vision okay. How's your head? Are you feeling tired?"

"My head's fine, but yes I feel very tired. My body feels sore."

"Well that's what happens when you have a seizure."

"What?" I regretted speaking so loudly. My body ached from just trying to speak louder.

"Your friends told me that you randomly had a seizure while walking. They said you stopped in your tracks and began foaming. Don't worry, that's pretty normal by medical standards. As for what caused it, I don't know. It could be a number of things: high fever, infection, head injury. Though it's most common with people who are epileptic. Do you or anyone in your family have epilepsy?" Yusuke layed quiet, but gently spoke out.

"My mother died from a seizure. I was only three years old at the time. She was just left to die. At her darkest moment, she couldn't receive help at all. She was a very sickly person... But to answer your question, I've never been diagnosed with epilepsy."

"I'm sorry I had to lay that on you."

"No, it's fine. It's in the past now and my love for her has never stopped growing." The woman reached into her coat pockets and brought out a handkerchief.

"Here," she said drying Yusuke's face, "You were crying in your sleep. There are still some tears remaining on your cheeks." Yusuke blushed as she stroked away his emotions from his face. She pocketed the handkerchief and looked at Yusuke. "I'm going to need you stay here for the rest of the day till I can get you better, does that sound fine?"

"Yes, of course," Yusuke said without hesitation. In secret, Yusuke felt a warm comfort from the woman and wished to stay a little longer. The woman left the room, softly closing the door behind her. Yusuke closed his eyes to rest.

* * *

The woman met Ren and Ryuji in the waiting lounge. Ryuji didn't bother sitting. He leaned on the wall looking down at his feet moping. Ren sat on the bench, nervously twisting the hair at the front of his face. His right leg was restless. It kept boping up and down, waiting to see a conclusion, or perhaps not wanting to see one as well.

As the woman stepped out from the room, Ren and Ryuji immediately got caught in her attention. Ren jumped from his chair and Ryuji snapped out of his mood.

"Takemi," Ren asked, "Is he alright? How much can we pay you?"

"I've got some money saved up," Ryuji chimed in, "I don't know how much, but I'll give up all of it."

"Calm down, Takemi said with a sly smile, "your friend's just fine. I'm going to have him stay here for a while longer. And don't worry about any medical costs. It's on the house; consider it thanks for helping with those experiments. Anyway, he should be back on his own by tomorrow.".

"Thank you Takemi," Ren spoke, "truly, thank you."

"Haha, of course. Don't forgot, we have that test four days now that you promised you appoint. But,I'm sure you won't forget, isn't that right my little guiena pig?" She leaned close to Ren, wearing a devious smile.

"Guiena pig?" Ryuji wispered. Takemi left the two on their own and went back into her office. Ren attempted to wipe away his blush with his hands. "Dude, you got some wack-ass connections. But she's kinda hot, not gonna lie. I didn't think goths could look that good! But uh... What kind of experiments are you doing with her?"

"That's none of your business," Ren spoke somehow calmly and aggressively. He even pushed up his glasses to adjust them.

"Fine, keep your secrets." Morgana poked his head out of Ren's bag, wanting to initiate a more important conversation.

"Just a reminder, we have four days till that virus ends our entire internet!"

"We know, we know," said Ryuji, "but what do you expect us to do? We have no leads! Trying to find any would be impossible. And the police can't get involved, otherwise shit's gonna hit the fan even sooner!"

"Ryuji's right, Morgana. We quite literally have nothing at the moment."

"But Japan's counting on us! We're the Phantom Thieves, we have to do something!"

"Do what," spoke Ryuji, "keep endlessly running within Mementos having a 1-in-1,000,000 chance of finding someone? We can't do anything! We just lost two of our team members. We're getting effin' no where with this case!" Morgana put himself silent, realizing how futile everything felt. "Let's just head home for today, I don't even feel like arguing."

Ren and Ryuji left, making their seperate ways. Returning to Leblanc, Ren laid in his bed, unwilling to move. He wish this nightmare of events would pass on and disappear, but it wasn't that simple, it could never be that simple. His phone buzzed. It was a phone call from Kasumi. He answered it.

"Kasumi?"

"Hi Senpai! Say, are you busy?" Ren looked at his wristwatch. It was a quarter after four. Sojiro usually had him do dishes sometime before.

"No, I'm available. What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for what you did for me those past days ago."

"You mean the ramen?"

"Yeah, but I didn't just want to say thank you sooo..." She paused for a moment, like she was trying to process what she was doing.

"Sooo...?"

"I decided that I'll invite you to ramen myself!"

"Really? That sounds nice. What time sre you thinking?"

"Wha-!" She flustered a bit. "Umm... Does right now sound good?" She said sheepishly.

"Sure, I'll get dressed. What place were you thinking?"

"Ogikubo. The place where you got ramen last time."

"Alright, I'll see to it. Meet you there, bye."

"Bye." Kasumi hung up, her face red as a beet. "I know I'm just being nice, but I hope he doesn't realize I'm asking him on a date."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait on this one. I had mostly finished it back last week, but I ended loosing my progress after my phone had a sudden reset. So I decided to take a bit of a hiatus and reworked the chapter. Sorry for this chapter's wait, but it's finally here!


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